'Pineapple Coverlet' - by Sheilah Daughtree - Issue 161 June 2007

An exciting find
Once in a while a little piece of magic drops into our lives. When it’s an old quilt it is full of hidden stories, some of which we can unravel, whilst others will be hidden for ever. About 3 years ago a bundle of cloth was found in a box window-seat in Snowshill Manor in Gloucestershire. How long it had been there no one knows, but this bundle turned out to be a wonderful coverlet with little damage, except for one large square missing and a few smaller gaps here and there. All kinds of thoughts flew around my head as Althea Mackenzie gave me carte blanche to investigate. I went home hugging myself with anticipation, trepidation and delight that I had been given the task of dating the coverlet. Alas, things never go to plan and, apart from taking lots of photographs of the coverlet, it was over a year before I could resume work on it again. I have called it the 'Pineapple Coverlet'1 because of the unusual centre block of the Medallion. Although it is a pineapple print it is made up of many pieces.2 The coverlet only has two layers, with no batting or quilting.

Determining age
First of all I had to roughly determine its age, before researching books, textile and quilt collections, roller printing/block printing technique, colour guides, dating textiles, designers and other fabric collections relevant to the supposed date. I took many photographs of the coverlet to compare and study. Knowing a little about the cotton/silk industry the first colour clue was that it was well before the age of synthetic dyes, so it had to be before 1865. The next investigation was to find the earliest fabric and to identify (if possible) its country of origin - chances were that it was British but I had already noted the ‘revolutionary prints’ of the 1790s and also unusual dark designs that did not look like British prints. For all my searching of fabrics I had only come across one pillar print with a pineapple in it (circa 1790), printed at Fordingbridge. Considering how desirable the pineapple was and the part it was then playing in architecture, ceramics and the social scene I am surprised not to find more pineapple prints in fabric. Hoag Leveins, in an article on symbolism of the pineapple, suggests that from 1700 to 1800 there were (in America) pineapples on canvas mats, woven pineapples in tablecloths, napkins, carpets and draperies. Searching American prints of this time I have not yet come across a pineapple! Perhaps our American readers may identify some for me.

Pineapple History
It is generally recognised that Christopher Columbus was the first person to return to Europe with the fruit from the island of Guadaloupe in November 1493. It was not until 1661 that there was written evidence that a pineapple had been given to Cromwell in 1657. A painting of 1675 shows John Rose, Head Gardener to Charles II presenting a pineapple to the king. This was a statement on many levels – political, religious and trade. It was most of all a statement of prestige. In the early 17th century the pineapple was the prerogative of the rich and came to symbolise opulence, royal privilege, friendship and hospitality. Hostesses sought to create centre-pieces of extravagant fantasy food displays – declaring the status of the family in doing so. The pineapple was the centre crown of many a table display. So sought after were pineapples they could be rented out for the day! They were not usually eaten at this time but, if they were, it was when they were almost rotten and not fit for display. It was only later, when pineapples became more available and therefore cheaper, that they were eaten.
Table talk about such an exotic fruit not only centred on its history but also on its mathematically perfect proportions, known as the ‘Golden Mean or Divine Proportion’* of the Greek mathematicians. This became the Fibonacci series of numbers and the ‘eyes’ in a pineapple always conform to this principle. The craze for acquiring and growing pineapples was enormous. After much rivalry between Holland and England and after many trials, it was found that the best way to grow them was in hot-houses in small pits inside a double brick wall. Into the gap between the bricks was put horse manure, covered in straw, where it would ferment and generate heat that would leach through the inner aerated bricks into the soil in which the pineapples were growing. It was extremely labour intensive to keep a constant temperature of both hot-house and pineapple pit. Some were grown in small glass-houses against a wall, where piped heating went under the growing area. Until a reliable thermometer was developed in 1714 this was all done by guess work. The only working, manure-heated Georgian pineapple pit left can be seen at the ‘Lost Gardens of Heligan’ in Cornwall. Pineapples took two to three years to grow and a single one could cost as much as a coach!
*'Golden Mean or Divine Proportion' was discovered by the Greek Mathematician Euclid and called ‘phi’. This was a theorem that generates a series of numbers in which each number is the sum of the two preceding numbers – 0,1,1,2,3,5,8,13,21, etc. The ‘eyes’ on the outside are arranged in curving rows – one set goes one way from base to top, the other crosses the first row at an oblique angle. The number of rows of each always, but always, conform to two consecutive numbers from the Fibonacci series, usually 5 and 8 or 8 and 13, depending on the variety.” Taken from ‘The Pineapple: King of Fruits’ by Fran Beauman.

Identification
Barbara Brackman’s ‘Clues in the Calico’ is a great start to identification, along with a worksheet for dating quilts. This is a guide for things to look out for, as is ‘Dating Fabrics: A Color Guide 1809-1960’ by E. J. Trestrain. Although both are American books they are important as many early American fabrics were imported from England. It was not until after the Second War of Independence in America in 1812 that the first commercial American production of cloth and thread began (1814). After spending hours with the coverlet itself, I was slowly beginning to know a little of its mystery. Althea and I searched the bills of sale and record books of Charles Paget-Wade to see if we could identify when and where he bought it, but to no avail. I could find no date or name on the coverlet, only a printer’s stamp (denoting the beginning or end a roll of fabric) but it was too indistinct to know whose stamp it was. Barbara Brackman’s worksheet guides one to look for strong or weak clues as to the various techniques, colours, dyes, etc. to build up a good identification, if nothing else is obvious.


Fabrics
My first fabric identification was made at the British Quilt Study Group Seminar, where there were a number of antique quilts for viewing. I had the photographs of the Pineapple Coverlet and one of the group spotted the pink and black fabric, exactly the same as in a late 18th century quilt. My first strong clue – it was a ‘Revolutionary Print’, circa 1790-1795.3 My second clue was Furnishing Chintz, probably printed at Bannister Hall c. 1805-10, plate no. 126 in the ‘Victoria and Albert Museum Collection: Designs from printed textiles in England from 1750 to 1850’.4 & 5 The only pineapple print I have found is also in the same book, plate no. 92, which is again furnishing Chintz printed at Fordingbridge. A lovely print of grapes6 in the Pineapple Coverlet matches similar fabric found on a set of bed hangings. Also identified is a printed textile block7 (with a shell-shaped pattern) dating from the 3rd quarter of the 18th century – plate no. 26 in the V & A textile Collection. A very similar design to the Bannister Hall print was one found in the textiles at Temple Newsam (RW136) but on a white background of Indian pencilled cotton (2nd quarter of the 18th century). The following photo includes an example of pencilled indigo.8

Colour
The Pineapple Coverlet was beginning to look decidedly late 18th century but although I could say more about finding patterns a mention should be made of colour. To obtain a whole range of colour in one print was a long and involved process, from transferring the pattern and outlining the design to block printing and dyeing the fabric in a madder solution to create reds, orange, black, pinks, purples and browns. In India this was then sun bleached for weeks. A wax or resist paste was then applied and dyed in an indigo vat. When all the dyeing and resist was recovered yellow was often pencilled over the blue to make green.9 Yellows of all shades were readily available. A yellow, brown and green colour scheme was popular in 1800, known as ‘drab’ and used in large fabric roller prints, as was the yellow, brown and red combination used in pillar-prints.10 A onestep green was not developed until after 1809. The two-step print was still used well into the 1900s. All the greens in this coverlet were overdyed. Purple dyes were made from sea shells or some lichens but were often fugitive (unstable). They often faded to a soft brown, however the Pineapple Coverlet still has many soft purples including the large corner square that has a two colour-way print. Turkey Red was a dependable dye and pink on pink 11 was popular in the late 17th century. It was overdyed and could fade to a tan colour.

Patterns
Mélanie Riffel, the curator from the Jouy Museum in France, has indicated a few patterns that were typically French from the 1790s to 1820s and possibly one from the Jouy factory. This factory had ten outlets in London from the late 1790s. 12 & 13 Our last clue is in the large-scale pillarprints, with swags of ribbons, leaves or flowers, which were popular from 1780s to 1830s, as were the seaweed 14 patterns, picotage, tiny spots,15 shading and Icat designs, sometimes known as ‘Clouding’. This pattern is printed to give the same effect.16 At the Festival of Quilts 2004 I was lucky enough to spot the mottled blue ribbon in part of a hexagon quilt owned by Ron Simpson and dated 1828.17

My conclusions
Overall, the ‘clues’ give us a story of imported (or copied) Indian chintz, English chintz, French chintz and block printing, with some pencilling. The earliest print is probably in the 1770s, whilst the latest is around 1830. That’s not to say that it wasn’t made after 1830 but there is no evidence of a ‘rogue’ fabric from a later date that may have crept in if made after this date. The actual style of medallion pattern (a square with borders) was popular but this coverlet is slightly different, with the centre medallion set on point and showing an exotic fruit instead of the usual flowers. Centre pieces for medallion quilts were made specially, often with matching border prints. The pineapple on this coverlet is made up of many pieces and not one whole piece. The coverlet is beautifully and intricately designed and the colours well thought out, which suggests that whosoever made it had all the pieces to hand. Being mostly furnishing fabrics, the materials were possibly new and perhaps this has helped in its preservation. The colours are still bright and have lost none of their vibrancy, so the coverlet has not been used very much, if at all. Interestingly, the back is a very plain cream cotton but with a 4" (10 cm) patched border of mostly dress fabric 18 & 19 imitating 1770s fine drawing prints, shirting or upholstery stripes20 and some pieces from the front of the coverlet. It is not tied or quilted. At this time there was no absolute line between dress fabrics and furnishing fabrics. However, from the 1770s the emerging middle class not only wished to be seen in the latest fashion but also wished to ‘dress’ their houses. Many pattern designers were known furnishing drawers or designers. In some ways this was the beginning of the division between dress and furnishing fabrics. There are many other prints to study in this coverlet and there is still a way to go in unravelling its mystery but it has given up some of its secrets. It is a significant and valuable addition to the Wade Collection and to British patchwork and quilting.

Viewing
It had been hoped to display the Pineapple Coverlet at Festival of Quilts. However, despite the Festival organisers bending over backwards to comply with all the conditions requested by the National Trust, the final decision has just been taken by the Registrar that the quilt cannot be displayed there. The quilt can be seen, by appointment, at
Berrington Hall. Contact: Althea Mackenzie, Costume Curator, Snowshill Collection,
National Trust, Berrington Hall, Herefordshire.

Acknowledgements
My thanks go to;
Althea Mackenzia
Bridget Long,
Dennis Irwin, Stead McAlpine Factory,
Mélanie Riffel, Jouy Museum, France,
Kew Gardens Research Centre.

Selected Bibliography
Beauman, Fran, ‘The Pineapple: King of Fruits’, Chato & Windus, London, 2005
Brown, Clare, ‘Silk Designs of the Eighteenth Century from the Victoria and Albert Museum’, Thames & Hudson, London, 1996
Colby, Averil, ‘Patchwork’, B. T. Batsford, London, 1958
Rothstein, Natalie (ed), ‘The Victoria & Albert Museum’s Textile Collection:
Woven Textile Designs in Britain to 1750’, Thames & Hudson, London, 1994
Tozer, Jane and Sarah Levitt, ‘Fabric of Society: A Century of People and Their
Clothes 1770-1870’, Laura Ashley Publication, Platt Hall, Manchester, 1983

Statistics

• Found May 2002, Snowshill Manor, Gloucestershire
• Coverlet - two layers – no quilting
• All cotton furnishing and dress fabric
• Medallion style coverlet, pieced
• Centre medallion on point. Pineapple in the centre, intricately pieced to appear as one block consisting of 8 pineapples measuring 12" (30 cm)
• Measurement 145" x 89" (368 cm x 223 cm)
• Pieced by whip stitches and some running stitches around the edge; one appliquéd piece
• Approximately 77 pieces of different materials
• Some tape and ribbon used
• Size of blocks vary but most are made up of units measuring 6½" (16 cm) square
• No evidence of being patched over papers